He's been practicing RE law for decades.

Yep- you are definitely following the letter of the law.

The main thing of course is to be aware of and follow all the additional tenant protection ordinances that seattle has which go a lot further than WA state landlord tenant law does.Seattle has a just cause eviction law ,    additional categories of 'protected class' that you cannot discriminate against,  there are rules around what you can and cannot consider when doing screenings  (you cannot consider most criminal history for example),   and there are rules forcing you for example to accept a six month interest free payment plan for deposit and last months rent if the applicant requests it.   

My brother in law does work like that up there. 

I have had this happen, and it brought down the value of the property, but it could go the other way too.In Oregon, we are only required to have a heat source, so check with GA laws. 

@Marcus Rodger, I see every limited value in a lot fo books, especially about things like gearing and tax as the laws change frequently.In the NZ market the basic precepts are fairly simple.If you can afford to negatively gear safely and you have decide it is a safe enough strategy for you then pick the market with the highest likelihood of capital growth, which is generally, Auckland, Wellington and Hamilton, and start investing.There are markets where you can still buy cash positive in New Zealand but you need strong local knowledge and good boots on the ground to buy well in many of those smaller areas.

I am in the process of understanding the new tax laws and how to modify what I’m doing going forward.

It's hard laying down the law on tenants but it must be done.

Are there any laws against advertising to get these partners?

When you get folks from certain cultures you area always dealing with this... think about the posts  Help my house smells like Curry how do I get that out ..or some folks just cant seem to hit the drive way and want to park on the law right in front of the front door..